Hellenistic settlement

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon , was one of the most successful military commanders in history, conquering most of the Ptolemy world map before his death; he is frequently included in a list along with …founded a Greek settlement with the city of Alexandria Eschate

Alexandria Eschate

Alexandria Eschate was founded by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE as his most advanced base in Central Asia…. “The Furthest”, in the southwestern part of the Ferghana valley, on the southern bank of the river Syr Darya

Syr Darya

Syr Darya is a river in Central Asia, sometimes known as the Jaxartes or Yaxartes from its Ancient Greek name …. (ancient Jaxartes), at the location of the modern city of Khujand

Khujand

Khujand, is the second largest city of Tajikistan. It is situated on the Syr Darya River at the mouth of the Fergana Valley…., in the state of Tajikistan

Tajikistan

The Republic of Tajikistan is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. It borders Afghanistan to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east…..

The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom covered the areas of Bactria and Sogdiana, comprising today’s northern Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia, the easternmost area of the Hellenistic world, from 250 BCE to 125 BCE…. centered on Bactria

Bactria

Bactria was the ancient Greek language name of the country between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya ; its capital, Bactra , was located in what is now Afghanistan…., especially when the Greco-Bactrian king Euthydemus

Euthydemus

Euthydemus may refer to:*a ruler of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom; see Euthydemus I*a son of Cephalus; see Republic… extended his control to Sogdiana. There are indications that from Alexandria Eschate

Alexandria Eschate

Alexandria Eschate was founded by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE as his most advanced base in Central Asia…. the Greco-Bactrians may have led expeditions as far as Kashgar

Kashgar

Kashgar , is an oasis city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. In 1999, the population was given as 205,056…. and Ürümqi

Ürümqi

Urumchi or rmqi, with a population about 1.6 million, is the capital of the Xinjiang Provinces of China of the People’s Republic of China, in the northwest of the country…. in Chinese Turkestan

Xinjiang

Xinjiang, full name Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of China of the People’s Republic of China…., leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around 220 BCE. Several statuettes and representations of Greek soldiers have been found north of the Tien Shan, on the doorstep to China, and are today on display in the Xinjiang

Xinjiang

Xinjiang, full name Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of China of the People’s Republic of China…. museum at Urumqi (Boardman). Of the Greco-Bactrians, the Greek historian Strabo

Strabo

Strabo was a history, geography and philosophy. He is mostly famous for his 17-volume work Geographica, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the known world for his era…. too writes that:

Strabo was a history, geography and philosophy. He is mostly famous for his 17-volume work Geographica, which presented a descriptive history of people and places from different regions of the known world for his era….

Interaction with China

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was founded by the prominent family known as the Liu clan…., based on the travels of Zhang Qian

Zhang Qian

Zhang Qian, was a China List of explorers and imperial envoy in the 2nd century BCE, during the time of the Han Dynasty…. about 126 BC, the region of Ferghana is presented as the country of the Dayuan

Dayuan

The Dayuan or Ta-Yuan were a people of Ferghana in Central Asia, described in the Chinese historical works of Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han, which follow the travels of Chinese explorer Zhang Qian in 130 BCE a… (Ta-Yuan), possibly descendants of the Greeks colonists (Da Yuan might be a transliteration of “Great Ionians“). Dayuan was renowned for its Heavenly Horses which the Chinese tried to obtain with little success until they waged war against them in 104 BC.

The Dayuan were identified by the Chinese as unusual in features, with a sophisticated urban civilization, similar to that of the Bactrians

Bactrians

The Bactrians were an Indo-European people originally of Bactria, situated in what is now modern northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and southern Uzbekistan…. and Parthians: “The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Ferghana (Dayuan) and the possessions of Bactria and Parthia are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the Chinese people, but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China” (Hou Han Shu).

Agricultural activities of the Dayuan reported by Zhang Qian included growing of grain and grapes (for wine). The area of Ferghana was thus the theater of the first major interaction between an urbanized culture speaking Indo-European languages

Indo-European languages

The Indo-European languages comprise a language family of several hundred languages and dialects , including most of the major languages of Europe, as well as many spoken in Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia…. and the Chinese civilization, which led to the opening up the Silk Road

Silk Road

The Silk Road or Silk Route was an interconnected series of routes through Southern Asia traversed by Camel train and ocean vessel, and connecting Chang’an , China, with Antioch, Asia Minor, as well as other points…. from the 1st century BC.